First, Shew some very dangerous Mistakes that are about this Matter. For, because Sentence against an Evil Work is not Executed speedily, THEREFORE the Heart of the Sons of Men is fully set in them to do Evil.

I. This has been the great Objection of Atheists in all Ages against the Being of a God Sim­plic. in Epicter. Cap. 38.. The Impunity of Bad Men in the World has been the common Popular Pretence to oppose the Belief of the Deity. That a God, arm'd with infinite and irresistible Power, should tamely suffer Bad Men to violate his Laws, and bid open Defiance to his Authority, and not to resent the Affront, by sending quick and ex­emplary Punishment on such Transgressors, is what they think cannot be reconciled to a Ra­tional Apprehension. This, they say, is to de­stroy the Notion of a God; who, if he were, [Page 3]would Govern the World by a more steady Justice. The Story of Diagoras is well known, who, seeing a Wretch forswear himself and remain unpunish'd, became a Professed Atheist.

II. Others admit the Being of a God, but deny his Providence in the Administration of Human Affairs, because they see Bad Men un­punish'd in the World Cicer. de Nat. Deor. Lib. 3. §. 81. &c. Salvian. de Gubern. Dei passim.. They say, that if there was a Providence, sollicitous about the Rectitude or Obliquity of Men's Actions, it would dispense suitable Retributions. But the greatest Villanies triumph with Impunity in the World! And this, they say, is a reproach to Providence: And an Argument that God takes no care of the little things of this lower World: That Virtue and Vice are alike to him: That he looks with indifferency on the Good or Evil of Human Acts: Which the Epicureans do say to be indeed beneath the Dignity and Excel­lency of so elevated a Nature as God, taken up in the Contemplation of his own Perfections and Happiness, to be concern'd about.

III. Bad Men that own a God and a Provi­dence, seeing their Crimes unpunish'd, fall into another Error. It raises them to a great Con­fidence [Page 4]about the Nature of those Actions, which because God does not Punish they think cannot be Bad Prospe­tum ac fe­lix Sçelus Virtus vo­catur. Sen.. They take this Impunity for a Token of the Divine Liking and Approbation: as Dionysius said the Gods were pleased with his Sacriledge, when they sent him a prosperous Voyage after he had robb'd their Temples Cicer. ut Supr. §. 83.. How often is Success urged in the World to ju­stifie the goodness of an Action. This may have some weight as to Publick Societies, which have their Reward in this World. Outward Prosperity may be indeed a good Indication of God's Favour to Publick and National Interests: A very good Sign of his Blessing upon great Transactions wherein Kingdome are concern'd. But tis a very fallacious Rule to judge of Par­ticular Actions and Cases by these External Ad­ministrations of Providence. And there is this pecular inconvenience in it: That tis the great­est Impediment I know to Repentance and A­mendment of Life. For how should that Man Repent who is possessed with an Opinion, that a Fact, for which he is call'd upon to ask God Forgiveness, has had the Divine Stamp and Testi­mony of Success to prove the lawfulness of it? These Delusions are frequent among Men.

IV. There is a Fault incident to many other­wise Good Men. They are uneasie at the Im­punity of Bad Men in the World. They re­pine at the Patience and Long-suffering of God towards them. And this undoubtedly is a Sin. For is their Eye Evil because their Master is Good Mat. xx. 15.? And ought they not to acquiesce in the Divine Methods and Dispensations, and adore the Righteousness of God's Ways in the World, altho' perhaps they cannot comprehend them? Thus Jonah was Angry because God spared Nineveh Jonah iv. 1, 2.. I knew, says he, that thou art a Gracious God, and Merciful, slow to Anger, and of great Kindness, and repentest thee of the Evil. A strange reason to be Angry with God for! And there appears to have been something of this Spirit and Temper in the Author of the LXXIII. Psalm Ver. 2. &c.. As for me, my feet were almost gone, my Steps had well nigh slip'd. For I was envious at the Foolish, when I saw the Prosperity of the Wicked. For there are no Bands in their Death, but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other Men, neither are they plagued like other Men. Behold these are the Ungodly, who prosper in the World: They increase in Riches. Verily, I have cleansed my Heart in vain, and washed my hands in Innocency. [Page 6]For all day long have I been plagued, and chastned every Morning. And Jeremiah expostulates thus the matter with God Chap. xii. Ver. 1, 2.. Righteous art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee: Yet let me talk with thee of thy Judgments. Wherefore doth the way of the Wicked prosper? Wherefore are all they happy that deal very Treacherously? Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: They grow, yea, they bring forth Fruit.

V. But the Great and Common Evil that is among Men, arising from the Impunity of Bad Men in the World, is, that there are very Few that from thence do not take Encouragement to go on securely in their Sins: not dreading that Punishment which some think will never come; others look on at such a Distance that the Apprehension of it is not strong enough to make them turn from their Evil Ways: Which probably may be All the Wise KING intended in the Text, tho the words may also bear a larger Construction; For to do Evil are Terms of great Latitude. Because Sentence against an Evil Work is not executed speedily, THEREFORE the Heart of the Sons of Men is fully set in them TO DO EVIL.

Secondly, Expound this Riddle of Providence, the Impunity of Bad Men in the World.

1. Publick Societies or Bodies of Men are Punish'd in this World, tho' Particular Persons may not. By Publick Societies I mean King­doms, Nations, and States, and Churches; these being also considered as Societies of Christian Men, who have special Rules set them for their Conduct, in that Relation wherein they stand to each other. For instance. National Judg­ments for National Sins, are, Immoderate Droughts, excessive Rains, and Inundations of Waters, Contrary Seasons, and a Conflict in the Elements, all which cause Famines and Barren­ness in the Earth: Pestilences, and other Contagi­ous and Malignant Distempers; Like That which having lately raged over several Parts of the Kingdom, has at last deprived us of our Excellent, our Incomparable, QUEEN; whose Pious, Just, Mild, and Prudent Govern­ment, in Conjunction with our Gracious SOVEREIGN, was so Great a Blessing to these Nations; A Blessing which our Sins made us unworthy of; Therefore God in his Great Anger has taken her away from us, [Page 8]and Translated Her to a better Crown: Con­flagrations: Earthquakes: The Miseries and Deso­lations of unprosperous and unsuccessful War: Infatuation of Publick Ministeries and Councels: Civil Discords: and the like. Punishments at­tending Christian Societies, are, Heresies, or Errors in Doctrine, Strong Delusions 2 Thess. ii. 11., A Lying and a Credulous Spirit sent out among Men: Schisms and Dissentions among Brethren: Out­ward Persecutions from Adversaries: And lastly, a removal of God's Candlestick Rev. ii. 5., and a transferring of his Kingdom to others that will bring forth the Fruits thereof Matth. xxi. 43.. With such Judg­ments as these Almighty God Punishes the Sins of Civil and Religious Communities in this World: And they are therefore call'd Tempo­ral Judgments, because they are inflicted here, and can be no where else; and to put a dif­ference betwixt Them, and those Eternal Judg­ments that are reserved for Particular Bad Men in the other World.

And God seldom delays these Judgments upon Societies, as he delays the Punishment of Particular Persons, for this plain Reason: That, should these Judgments be respited too long, they would not fall on those Sinful Generations that have deserved them, and have provoked [Page 9]God to send them abroad into the World. Those Generations would pass away, and, be­ing gone, these Judgments would not reach them. The guilty Dead would not feel these Publick Calamities in their Graves.

2. As for Particular Bad Men, they are a Pu­nishment to themselves. A Bad Man always bears a secret Punishment within Him. Every ill Action he does exposes him to the severe Rebukes and Lashes of his own Conscience Cicer. de Leg. Lib. 1. §. 40 Paenas lu­unt homines non tàm Judiciis quàm an­gore Consci­entiae.. And there can hardly be a greater Punishment than a Guilty Mind to a Bad Man in this World. Moreover, the Tumult and Disorder of his Passions, which clash with each other, and often meet with exasperating Difficulties in the pursuit of unlawful Objects, his restless Desires, his awakening Fears, and Jealousies, and Distrusts, and Thirst of Revenge, These, and a Thousand things more of the like nature, disturb the Peace and Tranquillity of his Soul. For the Wicked are like the troubled Sea, when it cannot rest, whose Waters cast up Mire and Dirt: There is no Peace, saith my Gd, to the Wicked Isa. lvii. 20, 21.. A Bad Man can never have that inward Complacency and Ease which is the peculiar Fruit of an innocent and well-spent [Page 10]Life; which springs from a good Con­science, and from calm and well-govern'd Pas­sions. So that tho' we should suppose a Bad Man to live Prosperously, as to all outward Enjoyments and Circumstances of Life, and to depart at last from the World without any ap­parent Mark of Divine Displeasure against him for his Sins, still it cannot be said that he goes off Unpunish'd, so long as whilst he lived he carried these Tormentors in his Breast, viz. these Horrors and Anxieties of Conscience, these fret­ting and vexatious Passions, which were a ter­rible Punishment tho' he suffer'd no other. And this Plutarch Lib. de eis qui serò puniuntur à Numine. urges, in answer to those who in his Time denied the Divine Providence in the World, because they said the Wicked were not punish'd. Are they not punish'd who lie under such cruel Agonies of Mind, and whom still one raging Lust or other robs of all the Good and Quiet of their Lives? which is the case of every Soul of Man that doth Evil.

3. Nor are Bad Men secure even against Out­ward Punishment. For Wickedness and Vice are not always Prosperous in the World. There have been in all Times innumerable Instances [Page 11]of Bad Men, who have been as Poor, and Wretched, and in every respect as Unhappy in the World, as others; have met with as many Misfortunes, and Disappointments, and cross Accidents; have been as destitute of all the Comforts of Life; and have had as Tragical Ends. Wickedness and Vice have a natural Tendency to make Men miserable in this World: But Providence often interferes by more Im­mediate Punishments. God does not always Punish Bad Men in this World, but he does it sometimes. Not a day but he crushes one bold Sinner or other into ruine. We too often call Casualties, and Fortuitous Disasters, things that the Effects of the Divine Indignation, tho' it acts by Secondary Causes: But some Punishments bear very Signal Marks of Divine Vengeance, and one may visibly discern the Finger of God in them. Therefore no Bad Man can promise himself Impunity even in this World, and Sen­tence against an Evil Work IS sometimes executed speedily.

This were enough to vindicate the Divine Justice and Providence from the Exceptions and Cavils of Men, tho' no more were said in this [Page 12]Matter. For this shews that there is a God; That he is no idle Spectator of Human Affairs; That he is an Enemy to Wickedness and Vice; That he is concern'd for the Honour and Ma­jesty of his Laws; And that many times Pu­nishment hangs o'er a Sinner's head, like a Cloud charg'd with Thunder, ready to break upon him when he is least aware of it. But I shall pursue this Argument further. For still it is very evident that God does not always punish Bad Men in this World. He Punishes Some, but he Punishes not All. Many lead very Wicked Lives, who, setting aside that in­ward Trouble of Mind, which no Bad Man can more or less be exempt from, live in great Prosperity and Affluency of all the Good Things of this World.

The End of Divine Punishment in this World must be the Correction or the Destru­ction of the Offender. But there are very good Reasons why God does not always Punish Bad Men in this World, with respect to either of These.

With respect to the First,

I. God does not always Punish Bad Men in this World, because he considers Men as Rational Creatures, and who ought therefore to be dealt with by Rational Methods. Present and Frequent Punish­ments would not be congruous to the Na­ture of Man. The Rod and the Whip are only fit for Beasts, Creatures void of Understanding, but of quick Sense, not to be argued but lash'd into Duty by the Pungency of Present Pain. But to Man, endowed with Reason, capable of looking Forwards, and of taking a Prospect of Things tho' at never so great a Distance, the Threats of Future Punishment are a suf­ficient Check; nor is it needful that God, in the ordinary Course of his Justice in this World, should use any other. I say, in the ordinary Course of his Justice, because some Examples may be necessary in the World. But, for the Generality of Men, This no doubt is the most suitable Method, because it leaves room for the exercise of the Pow­ers [Page 14]of Reason. God has given to every Man Natural Notices of Good and Evil. To us Christians he has added his Word for a more perfect Rule of Life. He Encou­rages Good Men: He Threatens the Bad: And he has actually Punish'd some, even in this World, for a Warning to others. After that, what can be proper for God to do more, but to leave the rest and gross of Mankind to the Use of that Reason he has given them? Should God be always busie in Beating and Punishing Men in this World, it had been enough to have endow'd them with the Common Instinct or Sense of Feeling. And accordingly I observe that St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Romans Ch. xii. Ver. 1., calls that Service which God requires from Man in this World, [...], a Reasonable Service; that is, a Service grounded on the Convi­ction of the Judgment, and on the Princi­ples and Deductions of Reason.

II. God does not always Punish Bad Men in this World, because Man is a Free Agent: But Present Punishment would bring a Force and a Compulsion upon him, in [Page 15]consistent with that Freedom; and his Obe­dience to God would not be Voluntary, be­cause it were not Free Vid. Ter­tul. advers. Marcion. Lib. II. Cap. 5. & 6.. It would not be the Obedience of a Man, prompted by in­ward Inclination and Choice, but the Obe­dience of a Machine, mov'd by outward Violence and Impulse: There would be no­thing Commendable in it. Here then must be Temperament, that the continual Awe and Dread of Punishment may not destroy the Freedom of the Will. Men ought to reve­rence the Divine Judgments, but they must not be so always under the Stroke and Ter­ror of the Rod, as to be thereby depriv'd of the Liberty of their Actions. Thus God, in not executing speedy Punishment upon Sinners in this World, shews won­derful Wisdom, and a due Regard to the Frame of Humane Nature.

With respect to the Second,

I. God does not always Punish Bad Men in this World, because He takes no Pleasure in the Death of the Wicked Ezek. xxxiii. 11., and does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the Children of Men Lament. iii. 33.. Now [Page 16]'tis very consonant to Reason that he should not hasten, what he does not will­ingly. And this gives a Noble Idea of the Divine Nature; free from Cruelty, raised above all the sowre and Vindictive Passi­ons of Men; like that Glorious Heaven in which he dwells, where reigns an Eter­nal Sweetness and Serenity, while Storms and Tempests are form'd in the lower Regions. Were God pleased with the Suf­ferings and Miseries of Men, with what horrid Executions and Tragedies would he not every Day fill the World, when so many Blasphemies and Impieties against him call daily aloud for Vengeance? But our Gracious and Good God bears long with Sinners, because 'tis with Regret that he destroys his Creatures; who therefore may be more properly said to destroy themselves, since, when at any time they are punish'd, 'tis rather their Choice than his Act.

II. God does not always Punish Bad Men in this World, that he may set Man kind an Example of Longanimity, and [Page 17]Meekness under Injuries, and of mutual Forbearance to each other. And the World needs such an Example. God is provoked eve­ry Day Ps. vii. 12.: Yet God passes by those Provo­cations, and bears with them that most grievously offend him. 'Tis to teach us to moderate our Heats, to conquer our Resentments, and not upon every bad Turn that Men do unto us to fly to speedy Revenge, and to Retaliate Evil for Evil. We ought to study nothing so much as to imitate the Divine Excellencies and Perfecti­ons; and then indeed we become like God, when, like him, we shew Kindness and good Will even to those that deserve our Hatred and our Aversion. Love your Enemies, do good to them that hate you, and ye shall be the Children of the Highest, who is Kind to the Unthankful and to the Evil, who maketh his Sun to rise on Evil and on the Good, and sendeth his Rain on the Just and on the Unjust, says our Blessed Lord and Saviour Mat. v. 45. Luke vi. 35.. This then is a ve­ry good Reason why God does not always Punish Bad Men in this World; and it must be agreeable to those innate Impressions which all Mankind have of the Divine Na­ture, [Page 18]forasmuch as Plutarch himself, a Heathen Philosopher, uses it on the like Occasion Lib. de cis qui serò pu­niuntur a Nu­mine..

And since the Words of the Text are the Words of a ROYAL PREACHER, and that this is too God-like a Virtue to be confin'd among Private Men, why may we not suppose that the Great Governor of the World designs this Lenity and Indul­gence to Sinners for an Example also to Those whom he has constituted his Vice-ge­rents on Earth Senec. de Clem. Lib. I. Cap. 5. Deorum sibi animum asse­rens PRIN­CEPS, a­lios ex Civibus suis, quia utiles boni (que) sunt, li­bens videat; a­lios in nume­rum relinquat. Quosdam esse gaudeat, quos­dam patiatur.? KINGS are called Gods in Scripture Psal. LXXXII. 1.6., and they all bear the Sacred Character of that Almighty Power that Rules the Universe; But then they may be truly said to be the lively Images of the He avenly KING, when, like him, they are slow to Punishment, and shew Mercy where they might use Severity.

III. God does not always Punish Bad Men in this World, that they may have time to Re­pent and grow better. And this Reason is also given by the Heathen Moralist Plutarch. ut supr.. Though a Sinner do Evil an Hundred times, his Days are Prolong'd, says our ROYAL [Page 19]PREACHER, in the Verse which fol­lows the Text. Prolong'd no doubt for this, that, seeing the Iniquity of his Ways, he may fly from the Wrath to come Mat. iii. 7., which the Di­vine Benignity intends all Men should have the Wisdom to do.

IV. God does not always Punish Bad Men in this World, because this World is a State of Probation and Trial: And such a State will not admit of Present Punishment. For in order to be prov'd Men must be left in a manner to themselves.

V. God does not always Punish Bad Men in this World, because they are to have their Portion in it Ps. xvii. 14.. Few Men are so very Bad as not to do some Good one time or other: And though That may not be enough to entitle them to the Glorious Rewards of another World, it may be e­nough to procure them a Reprieve from Punishment, and some Temporal Blessings in This. For the Righteous Judge of the World will not suffer the Good Actions even of Bad Men to go without a Recom­pence: [Page 20]And it must be such an one as this World will afford. Jehu was certainly a Bad Man; yet, for one Good Work that he did, in destroying the House of Ahab, as God had Commanded him, he enjoyed great Prosperity in his days, he died in Peace, and God promised that his Children of the Fourth Generation should sit on the Throne of Israel 2 Kings x. 30.. Thus, the Wicked Rich Man was told in Hell that in his Life time he had received His Good Things Luke xvi. 25..

VI. God does not always Punish Bad Men in this World, because they are so in­termix'd with the Good, that the One can­not be Punish'd but the Other must par­ticipate in their Punishment: God there­fore spares the Bad, in pity and compassi­on to the Good. If Bad Men did live in this World apart by themselves, then God might punish them without involving the Good in their Calamity: But there are such common Tyes of Blood, and Kindred, of Alliance, and Friendship, of Interest, and the like, betwixt Them, that the Punish­ment of the One would be a real Tor­ment [Page 21]and Affliction to the other. A Righteous Father may have a very Wicked Son, and a Righteous Son may have a very Wicked Father: But could a Fa­ther see his own Bowels, or a Son Him that begot him, hurried to Punishment, and not be concern'd at it? There will be a Time when all these Relations of Flesh and Blood will cease; and That will be a proper Season for Punishment. In this World, the Tares cannot be gathered without rooting up the Wheat with them: Therefore they must both grow up together until the Harvest Matth. xiii. 24. &c.. In Publick and National Judgments Good Men indeed do of­ten suffer undiscriminately with the Bad, be­cause it cannot be otherwise. But even Publick and National Judgments have been averted in favour to Good Men, who else must have shar'd in the Common Miseries of their Country. Sodom it self, that Wicked City, might have remain'd until this day, had there been but Ten Good Men in it. God would not have destroy'd it for their sakes Gen. xviii. 32..

VII. God does not always Punish Bad Men in this World, that he may exercise the Faith of Good Men. When a Good Man [Page 22]sees a Notorious Malefactor remain unpunish'd, nay, Flourish and Prosper, as tho' there was no God nor Providence in the World, 'tis an excellent Occasion that God gives him to retire within Himself, to live above Sense and External Shews and Appear­ances, to abstract his Thoughts from Gross and Corporeal Objects, to look be­yond this Life, and to raise his Mind to the Contemplation of the Unseen and Invisible Things of another World; In a Word, to walk by Faith, and not by Sight 2 Cor. v. 7.. Such was the Faith of the ancient Ser­vants of God, when in their Time un­punish'd and successful Impiety o'erflow'd the World, and their Righteous Souls were daily vex'd with the filthy Conversation of the Wicked 2 Pet. ii. 7, 8.. We look not at the things which are seen, says the Apostle 2 Cor. iv. 18., but at the things which are not seen. And This is that Faith that overcomes the World 1 John v. 4:. Should God ex­ecute Judgment in this World according to every Man's Deserts, there would be little left for Good Men to exercise their Faith about. It would be no longer Faith, but Evidence. Good Men indeed may be surpriz'd at the Impunity of Bad Men [Page 23]in the World; But when they look further into the Matter, they will find great Reason to adore the Wisdom and Equity of the Di­vine Counsels, and to cry out in the Lan­guage of the Scripture, Great and Marvellous are thy Works, O Lord God Almighty! Just and True are thy Ways, thou King of Saints Rev. xv. 3.!

VIII. God does not always Punish Bad Men in this World, because, says Plutarch, Ʋt sup. he reserves them to be a Punishment to others. Even Good Men may need Cor­rection. When they do so, and God will have the hands of Men to intervene in it, he does not usually employ the Ministry of other Good Men to chastise them; He em­ploys Bad Men, as fittest for that Work: And he makes the Bad Punish one another. So that Bad Men are indeed in the World, what Common Executioners are in the best and wisest Governments. They are the Publick Lictors that carry the Rods and Axes of the Supream Dictator of the World, and must therefore be put in a Capacity to execute the Orders and Decrees of his Ju­stice. This is to be understood more par­ticularly of some Bad Men. Those I mean [Page 24]that are rais'd to Power and Authority in the World, and are thereby enabled to do so much the more Mischief. And this is the Case of Tyrants, and other Great Op­pressors, and Enemies of the Repose and Happiness of Mankind. All these must be confess'd to be Instruments in the hand of God, for the Punishment of those whom through their means he intends to Punish in this World. But they themselves must remain Unpunish'd: At least, until they have serv'd the Ends of His Justice: and then their Turn may also come to Drink of the Cup of his Fury, and to be Pu­nish'd by others as Bad as themselves.

And is not this admirable Wisdom? In general, All Bad Men may be said to be the Ministers of the Divine Vengeance for the Punishment of each other. For being acted by Contrary Passions and Interests, led by Different Humours and Designs, they are perpetually thwarting and justling one another, and they are as Thorns and Goads in each other's side; the Hand of every one of them being continually against his Fellow Judg. vii. 22.. Which in great measure supersedes the Ne­cessity of more direct Punishment from [Page 25]God: For they take the Work out of God's Hands: and in this World one Bad Man is a Plague and a Scourge to another.

IX. God does not always Punish Bad Men in this World, because their Sins are not yet ripe for Punishment. The Mea­sure of their Iniquities is not yet full Gen. xv. 16.. Ne­mo repente fit Turpissimus. No Man becomes thoroughly Wicked at once. It must be Step after Step. One Sin must be added to another. From a small Heap they must rise to a Mountain: And then let the Sin­ner prepare to meet A JWDOMENT WORTHY OF GOD. And therefore,

X. Lastly, God does not always Punish Bad Men in this World, because he has appointed a Day wherein he will pass a strict and im­partial Judgment upon All Men, and will final­ly render to every one according to his Works Matth. xvi. 27.. God needs not Punish Bad Men in this World, so long as he means to reckon with them in another World, and that sooner or later they must fall into his hands. And since a Thousand Years with the Lord are but as one Day 2 Pet. iii. 8., That short Impunity which Bad [Page 26]Men enjoy for a few Years in this World, attended with the endless Torments of ano­ther World, can be no Objection against the Divine Justice and Providence. Nay, Bad Men must account for this Impunity they now enjoy. It will aggravate their Guilt, and add to their Punishment, that they made no better use of the Opportunity of Grace that was put into their hands, not considering that the Goodness of God led them to Repentance Rom. ii. 4.. Nor is there a more certain Proof of a Future State See Dr. Sherlock of Judgment. Ch. 1. §. 3., where God will retribute Punishments proporti­oned to every one's Demerits, than the Im­punity of Bad Men in the World. That God does not Punish them now, says Chry­sostom Ad Pop. Autioch. Hom. xlvi., is a Sad Presage that he has some Terrible Vengeance in store for them.

From what has been said it may appear how little Reason some Men have to Im­peach, and call into question, the Divine Ju­stice and Providence, because Bad Men re­main Unpunish'd in the World. Not that I think it possible to trace every Footstep, and solve All the Various Phenomena of Provi­dence in the World. God's Judgments are a [Page 27]great Deep Psa. xxxvi. 6.: His Ways are past finding out. For who has known the Mind of the Lord? and who has been his Counsellor Rom. xi. 33, 34.? But we may know as much as is necessary to set our Minds at ease about this Matter: Wherein if any thing yet remains that we cannot now ex­tricate, let us remember that a Day is coming that will clear up This, and all other Dark Passages of Providence. Then, we shall be able to give an account of every Accident that happens to every Man in this Life. We shall read in the Books of Heaven the Orders of the Divine Counsels: And there we shall see with what infinite Goodness, and Justice, and Wisdom, God rules the World, and disposes of Human Affairs. In the mean while, it becomes us to reverence the Invi­sible Power and Majesty of God; To stand in awe of his Judgments, tho' they seem ne­ver so far off; To Work out our own Salvation with fear and trembling Phil. ii. 12.: Being firmly per­swaded that God has set Bad Men in slip­pery Places: He casts them down, and destroys them. O how suddenly do they consume, perish, and come to a fearful End Psal. lxxiii. 17, 18.!